Child of the Night
by the darkest light 17
Summary: Kayam has never heard of the Spirit World yet ironically spends half her time there. When she suddenly shows up on the Spirit World intelligence files, Koemma sends the team to gather information on her. Why would someone keep her off the files until now?
1. training with the sensai from hell

K folks this is my first fanfic so be nice okie?

Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own YYH, its characters, or its plot/storyline. I DO own my original characters (OCs) and this story's plot. You steal it. I get pissed. Track you down. And break your neck. Comprendai? Good.

"blah blah blah" dialog (for you linguistically challenged, stuff in double quotes means people are talking out loud)

'_blah blah blah' _thoughts of the character. Could also be the telepathic conversation of two (duh) telepaths

(blah blah blah A/N) authoress' notes. I may or may not insert comments or explanations of certain things in my story.

Ok! On with the story. Btw, the YYH characters don't come into the picture until chapter 2.

* * *

**Child of the Night**

**Chapter 1 Training with the sensei from hell**

"No trespassing," read the girl. She chuckled, 'Why do people even bother putting those signs up?' she thought to herself while hopping the fence. She landed on the soft loam of the forest floor and sighed. It was good to be back in a forest untouched by human culture. 'Stupid human excuse of civilization; they corrupt the soul of their own earth.' Pulling her sapphire streaked black hair up in a pony-tail, she took a deep breath.

The girl glanced at Earth's one sun and squinted. It was around 10 am, or so she guessed. She always did have trouble remembering the sun's positions. So she had about two hours give or take to get back to her destination. Her pace quickened. If she was late, her teacher was liable to go berserk on her. Again. Her boots hastened over the brown and orange leaves on the ground and half an hour later she finally reached the base of a colossal oak tree.

Pulling off her leather gloves, she placed one hand on the rough bark, and held her dragon's claw pendent with the other. It had been a gift, that pendant. Golden wire holding the fifth claw of an imperial dragon captive. It dangled on a steel chain that had hung around her neck since she was five. It was their fifth claw that allowed the dragons of royal blood to travel through time and space, and the girl found it rather useful.

As she gripped the claw, her surroundings spun around her, faster and faster, until they were no more than a blur of color and unrecognizable smudges. Stomach churning, and teeth clenched, the spinning abruptly ceased allowing the girl to catch her breath.

As she regained control of her body and bearings, a man stepped out from behind a tree. Raven black hair streaked with gold was spiked high. He wore a black tunic, loose pants, and black cloth boots. On his hands were a pair of fingerless gloves, and over his shoulder hung his bow and quiver. He leaned casually against a tree and sighed.

"You're late again, Kayam."

Kayam rolled her eyes. "And a 'good morning' to you to Marth," Marth opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by his student. "And _don't_ give me the 'if-you're-not-serious-about–this-, don't-waste-my-time,' speech. I'm here now aren't I?" Marth chose to ignore her comment.

"Come on, I want to work on your senses today." He led her to a large clearing with a leafy green foliage. The sunlight filtering through the canopy of leaves overhead made patterns of dappled light play across the forest floor. "Stand in the center and close your eyes. I'll be in the trees; I want you to dodge my arrows. This will help you not to depend so heavily on sight and sharpen your other senses at the same time. Do not open your eyes until I tell you to. I'll get you started with rocks, but as soon as you've dodged five of them, I'll switch to my arrows." Kayam eyed her teacher warily.

"So I'm supposed to just close my eyes and let you use me as target practice? You're kidding me right?!" she yelled after Marth's disappearing figure. Kayam sighed and walked toward the center of the clearing. "Well, this will make an interesting topic for discussion. 'So, what'd you do in training today?' oh, I closed my eyes while my teacher threw rocks and shot arrows at me." Kayam quipped. She continued muttering to herself as she walked. "What kind of demented idea is this?! Did this guy just randomly sit down one day and think to himself. 'Hey, I know! I'll have Kayam play blindfolded dodge ball with rocks and arrows! Then, I'll sit in the trees cracking up wile she tries to stay conscious from loss of blood and head trauma! Yeah, that sounds like fun…' " She rolled her eyes. "Stupid baka…" she muttered as she reached the center of the clearing and closed her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, she cleared her mind as her senses heightened. Silence. Suddenly the air whistled behind her. Too late, the fist-sized rock smashed into her shoulder as she tried to dive out of the way.

"Owww…. That hurt." She rolled her closed eyes. "Ok memo to self; 'Don't get hit by hard flying objects.' " In her mind she added, 'Especially if those objects are leaving the hands of someone with repressed anger.' Despite her throbbing shoulder, she gave a small laugh. There were times when she thought Marth was going to simply drop dead his blood pressure looked so high. You could practically see the steam rising from his head at those moments; and in the winter you _really_ could.

Her attention was rudely snatched from her thoughts as another chunk of rock (this time roughly the size and shape of a golf ball) bounced off her stomach. Kayam groaned. 'Gotta stop daydreaming. Focus!' She took a deep breath and listened with new awareness. The next time she heard the rock cutting through the air she carefully judged its angle before neatly sidestepping it. Up in the trees Marth smirked.

"Good, she's finally stopped fooling around. I'll throw one more rock, then let's see how well she deals with an arrow." He chuckled thoughtfully. "She's going to kill me for this…"

Kayam smiled as she heard the rock kick up pine needles as it slammed into the ground. _'Ok, I've got three more rocks to dodge before I have to worry about those arrows of his.'_ She grimaced, _'I hope he's not using those barbed arrowheads of his. Those things hurt like hell when you pull them out.'_ A whistle to her left. She stepped back effortlessly and waited. As Marth cocked his bow, he wondered what would happen if he had underestimated Kayam, or her abilities.

Arms crossed, Kayam was slightly relaxed as she speculated if Marth's challenge was supposed to be this easy. _'He'd better not try anything…'_

Marth released the arrow and watched as it flew towards its target.

Back down in the clearing Kayam heard the twang of a bow and felt her heart jump in shock. No time for thought, she propelled herself high into the air and did a back flip landing ten feet away from her original position. When she landed opened her eyes were blazing more with fury.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT MARTH!?!?!" she roared in the general direction of the arrow's owner. "You said you'd give me until after I'd dodged five rocks!!! You didn't even THROW five rocks you jerk!!!! You see, THIS is why I'm so paranoid! Because if I wasn't, I'd be dead right now, since I can't seem to be able to trust you! You deceitful, prevaricating s-"

"Calm down onna." Marth leaped out of a tree and landed beside her. "When you're actually trying to avoid arrows or throwing knives, do you really think the person is going to tell you when or _what _they're going to throw at you? I was just trying to get you used to thinking on your feet; which you did quite well by the way, good job." Kayam said nothing as she continued to silently glower at him. Marth sighed. "Oh come on, let it go. You still have to dodge the rest of my arrows; don't think you're getting out of your training _that_ easy. Close your eyes again." Kayam sighed.

"I really loath you Marth."

"Of course you do," Marth laughed as he gave her a friendly punch in the arm. "Don't forget, I'll be shooting arrows at you this time. Though, I might do the occasional throwing knife just for kicks." He added with a thoughtful expression.

"You _wouldn't_…"

"Are you sure about that?" he grinned. "Come on, eyes closed now. Empty your mind. Take a deep breath and just let everything flow through you." Kayam relaxed and closed her eyes as Marth continued. "Listen carefully to your surroundings but don't lose yourself in thought trying to analyze everything. When the arrow comes, don't try to think, just react." Kayam just nodded.

As Marth slipped away Kayam took another deep breath of the cool, clean forest air. Then she let herself go. At first everything seemed silent, but as her senses heightened it was like someone had turned up the volume knob of the world. She could _feel _the pinecone as it made impact with the ground. And the wind quickly took on a life of its own. She sighed as she felt the various air currents swelling up around her before swirling away.

She smirked to herself as she allowed one lone thought to float across her mind. _'Give me all you got Marth. I'm ready for you…'_

"She's got spirit," Marth mused. It had been over four hours since Kayam had last used her eyes. Her speed, patience, and most of all endurance was incredible. She had gotten hit half a dozen times or so, but those were mostly from the time he had shot multiple arrows at her in an unending attack. Marth shot five more arrows in quick secession then jumped down to the clearing.

Kayam heard the impact he made on the ground and whipped around. She tensed as she rested one hand on her katana's hilt. If possible, her closed eyes narrowed even more. _'I swear to the gods, if he makes me spar blind….'_

"That's all. We're done for today." Marth smiled as Kayam slowly opened her eyes and shook her head to clear it. "You've improved significantly in speed, agility, and you've honed your senses to an amazing degree. Go home and rest." Kayam's hard gaze disappeared as she suddenly broke out into a grin. And in an uncharacteristic gesture she bear-hugged Marth. Then she pulled away and ran off into the woods still grinning. At this point Marth was looking at her disappearing form somewhat like so: o.O

"Who slipped opium into _her_ green tea?"

While Marth mused over his student's sudden mood swing, Kayam was running as fast as she could up a long-forgotten mountain path. She was lost in the joy of movement, taking in great lungfuls of the mountain air. As the wind rushed around her, she felt her spirit lifting higher.

Finally she reached the cliff and with a last whoop leaped off. In an explosion of feathers jet black wings burst out of her back. For an instant they threatened to rip cloth but soon found the ready-made slits already there and slipped out of those instead. She gave them another strong flap and glided another good hundred yards or so before giving another one.

She was practically gliding above the lush green giant-bamboo forest. Swooping, low for a moment she felt the soft leaves brush her arms for a moment before a warm draft lifted her once again high above the clean emerald green expanse. The air was crisp but she cared not, when she flew she was free. There was nothing that could replace the joy she felt when she looking down at the seemingly flawless world with adrenaline pumping through her system. She did one last loop before diving for a particular spot in the endless sea of giant-bamboo. A huge hard wood tree (she never had figured out what kind of tree it was) with branches wide as sidewalks quickly came into view.

Kayam slowed down before diving for the landing platform she had built a year ago when she'd first discovered this world. She sighed and stretched her wings one last time before folding them to her back. She closed her eyes and concentrating for a moment, envisioning her wings dissolving into her back. She felt the familiar warm as her beautiful wings became pure energy than was reabsorbed into her body. Sighing, the girl walked along the branch until she reached the trunk. Laying her bare hands once again on the rough bark she gave the tree a kiss and whispered gently to it with a small smile on her lips.

"Guess who's back Izanami? Only your favorite roomie. Sorry I'm so late, Marth kept me late with his newest training exercise from hell." The tree's leaves rustled and Kayam could have sworn her heard her old friend chuckle. A lithe branch bent down and touched her gently on the shoulder. Kayam took her cue and held on tightly. The branch bent back up and set her down carefully on another one of her branches where a rope ladder hung. The ladder was the only way to get up to her home, and Izanami was the only means to get to the ladder. Even she probably couldn't get to her door with out the help of both, or at least one.

Taking a firm grip on the hemp rope, Kayam started up. As she climbed, her house slowly came into view. Near the top of the ladder she reached across and pulled open the trap door at the tree house's floor. The (much smaller) rope ladder tumbled out and she grabbed hold of it as she transferred her body onto the smaller ladder. She never used the 'front' door. In fact, the door was a decoy so that those who weren't previously informed would trigger a trap that would shot sixty or so arrows out the door at all different angles.

At last Kayam pulled herself through the trap door and began re-rolling the ladder. She reached out and closed the trap door, placing the ladder onto of it so it would fall out next time. She started to walk to the next room calling,

"Lei! I'm home!!!!!!"

"Ouch! I've got sensitive ears you know Kayam!!" The small dragon flew into the room. Its long supple body practically flowed into the room, and its front feet were held over its ears. One of his feet had only four claws. Kayam's nearly life-long companion was glaring at her. "Where have you been these past two weeks?! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!?! You told me five to six days tops, not sixteen!!!!!!" Lei was livid. Kayam sighed, '_I'm SO screwed…..' _

"Sorry I'm so late, got caught up in the some crap that I had to deal with. Apparently I got the flu or something like that. I had it really bad so Jade wouldn't let me leave her house until she deemed me cured. I got better just in time to meet Marth at our scheduled time to train. Lucky me. Anyways, Marth just let me go. So here I am!" she grinned in a cheerful, slightly hopeful, please-don't-kill-me sort of way. Lei growled, but dropped the subject. Kayam let out a relieved sigh.

"I'll go make us some dinner k? I doubt we have much of that deer left, so I'll just make us some Ramen." Lei's eyes brightened a little. The dragon seemed to have taken quite a liking to human food every since Kayam had introduced him to it. A few minutes later the smell of noodles, ginger, venison, and basil made its way to Lei's nose. The little black wraith happily sped towards the kitchen. The two gulped down the hot meal before sitting back satisfied.

"I'm going out for a walk Lei, want to come?" Lei, who was curled up like a cat did not look like he was going to be moving anytime soon.

"No thanks, I'm just going to sleep for a while. Be careful out there though. If I don't find you in your bed by morning I'll hunt for you. In my true form." He added looking her straight in the eye. Kayam shrugged and tried to brush it off, though in truth she was worried. There was _nothing_ scarier than an angry imperial dragon, and to tell the truth if anyone did manage to murder or kidnap her, she'd feel bad for the idiot who'd just invited Lei's wrath upon them. Lei looked at her hard for a moment before she sighed in defeat.

"Point taken. Don't get hurt, or kidnapped or else I'm basically signing half the Makai's death certificate." Lei smirked closed his eyes.

"Very good. Don't come back too late."

"I won't. G' night Lei." But too often, the fates have different plans for us.


	2. hamsters make better company

**FOR ANY OF MY READERS WHO READ THE FIRST VERSION OF CHAPTER 2. I'm really sorry; I uploaded the wrong file so the one you guys read was the unfinished version. Please reread the chapter because this one is longer. Though I'm sorry that it's a lot shorter than my first chapter. Hey, I do have a life besides writing. **

Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own YYH, its characters, or its plot/storyline. I DO own my original characters (OCs) and this story's plot. Guess what happens if you steal them and I find out? Please consider the following. I get pissed. I track you down. I eventually find you. Then I take great pleasure in ripping out your liver and eating it raw in front of you as you bleed your life out onto a carpet. Comprendai? Good.

"random crap" dialog (for you linguistically challenged, stuff in double quotes means people are talking out loud)

'_more weird randomness_ 'thoughts of the character. Could also be the telepathic conversation of two (duh) telepaths

(the most disturbing content of all A/N) authoress' notes. I may or may not insert comments or explanations of certain things in my story.

The YYH cast comes into the plot in this chapter. O yeah, sorry about the Kuwabara bashing. I do it so often because it's so fun. . But for you Kuwabara fans out there, I am going to have him portrayed later on as something more than just a punching bag for Yusuke and Hiei.

Btw, please review. I know some authors actually set a minimum number of reviews per chapter otherwise they don't post and I'd really hate to do that. I just want to know that people are reading my story and actually care what's going to happen next. If I don't think people are reading I don't bother posting. And thank you to Mazylover and hottietotty90 for being my ONLY reviewers. You guys rock!.

**Child of the Night**

**Chapter 2 **

(A/N I'll be switching scenes pretty often, so don't forget to pay attention to the bold, capitalized, and basically self-explanatory scene labels. Like the one below.)

**OUTSIDE KOEMMA'S OFFICE**

"For the final time detective; shut up," snarled Hiei. (A/N I might note that that was also the _first_ time. --')

"Aw, loosen up big guy. We've only got 91 bottles to go!" laughs Yusuke through a cheeky grin.

"Don't you mean little guy?" this inevitable remark is bellowed quite loudly in the un-amused fire apparition's ear by whaddya know, Kuwabara. After flinching slightly, Hiei calmly right hooks Kuwabara in the face. This causes the soda Yusuke was chugging to promptly begin shooting out of his nose. Hiei rolled his eyes and resumed staring out the window.

"That is repulsing. I know hamsters that would make more intelligent company."

"Jaganshi, you've never even _seen_ a hamster before!"

"My point exactly." (A/N ouch.)

**BACK WITH KAYAM**

She wanted to fly, wanted to feel the cold, comforting starlight on her face. But flying took a lot of energy. More energy than she had at the moment. She hesitated as she climbed out of the roof top trap door which provided the entrance to her bedroom. She'd fly for just a little while. '_Just a few minutes.' _she thought.

She gently let the trap door drop shut next to her, and then scaled the huge tree. At the top near the canopy she held onto the branches tightly as they swayed in the strong wind. This time her wings unfurled slowly, finally stretching out to its majestic ten foot wing span. She heavily brought her wings up slowly and in one strong beat practically threw herself at the sky. Once she'd cleared the trees she tilted so she was parallel to the ground and gave another heavy beat of her wings. Her wings felt sore, they had been unused for too long and the stretch she was now giving them felt good. Finally she relaxed and allowed herself to glide along.

Wind whipped her hair across her face as Kayam soared. It was a cool night and soon her uncovered arms were chilled to the bone. Giving them a quick rub, Kayam started to look for a clearing to land in. Three minutes later she spotted one not far from the cliffs she was headed toward. Folding her wings tight against her body, Kayam dove into her downward decent with relish. When she was three yards away from the hard earth, her wings flung out to break her fall. After stretching tired back and leg muscles, Kayam focused for a moment as her wings dissolved into her being.

**STILL OUTSIDE KOEMMA'S OFFICE**

"I'm booooored….."

"Shut up weakling," Hiei glared at the offending human before muttering. "This is a complete waste of my time."

"Hey! Ya wanna start somethin' shrimp!" Hiei ignored him. "Come on! What are ya, a wuss? Sissy! Come fight me yalittle prick!" A few eyebrows are raised, though Hiei's face remains impassive.

"There would be no challenge involved, and therefore I would _still_ be wasting my time not to mention a little energy, as I beat you into a bloody mass." Kuwabara's fists clenched for one moment before he leaped at Hiei. (A/N Authoress induced time freeze! What do YOU think is going to happen in the next scene? Could it be….? Kuwabara making a complete and utter fool of himself? _No….._ Well. I guess.)

Since Kuwabara had made it so evident that he was going to attack Hiei, by the time Kuwabara's body had reached the spot formally occupied by the demon, Hiei was already across the room. Let's review the facts now shall we? Kuwabara madly rushes at a section of wall formally occupied by Hiei. Hiei no longer occupies space on wall so now Kuwabara is rushing at empty wall. Kuwabara has slow reflexes and therefore does not realize this until…

BAM! (A/N Don't you just love written sound effects?) A collective sigh is heard from all directions. Hiei just smirks._ 'Well, at least the idiot provides a form of entertainment.' _

Just then Botan pops up with her trademark smile.

"Okay! Koemma's going to see you all now! Sorry about the wait, there was a lot of paper work to be done and he really couldn't see you until he had signed them. Then George accidentally tripped and knocked over a stack of files so we were all on the floor picking them up and putting the right papers back into-"

"Botan, listen to me. Shut. Up. I'm tired, it's a weekend, and we've all been sitting here for two and a half hours. Let us in that office. NOW." Yusuke was rubbing his temple in an honest effort to retain calm, unfortunately , it wasnt working too well. Botan sweat dropped before giggling.

"Okay! Okay! No need to get those white-tighties of yours in a twist. Let's go!" Kuwabara snicker as he follows the other three guys into the room. As usual the Spirit World's ruler-to-be has towers of paper work yet to be finished on his desk.

"Lots of work, eh Binky Breath?" Yusuke asked with his usual tactfulness. Koemma rolled his eyes.

"No Yusuke, I just thought having THOUSANDS of papers on my desk would look cool. Of COURSE I have lots of work you _thick-headed _BAFFOON!" Koemma suddenly had one of those anime moments were his head gets all huge and everyone else is huddled in a corner wimpering. (A/N a little stressed out are we?)

"Geesh. Just wondering," mumbled Yusuke. "So do you actually have a reason for dragging us out here, or did you just ring us up out of spite?"

"Spite," Koemma sighed. (A/N insert sarcastic eyeroll here). "Here's your mission." As the infamous screen slides up, Yusuke slouches down in his chair, Kuwabara heads another one, Kurama relaxes and leans against the wall with his arms crossed, and Hiei does the same minus the relaxing part. As the TV flickers to life, Koemma starts speaking rapidly. "Spirit World intelligence has reported that there is a rouge demon with exceptionally high levels of Spirit Energy who may be a potential threat."


	3. danelions are your FRIENDS

Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own YYH, its characters, or its plot/storyline. I DO own my original characters (OCs) and this story's plot. Guess what happens if you steal them and I find out? Please consider the following. I get pissed. I track you down. I eventually find you. I tell you that I'm flattered you liked my story that much. Then I take great pleasure in ripping out your liver and eating it raw in front of you as you bleed your life out onto a carpet. Comprendai? Good.

"random crap" dialog (for you linguistically challenged, stuff in double quotes means people are talking out loud)

'_more weird randomness_ 'thoughts of the character. Could also be the telepathic conversation of two (duh) telepaths

(the most disturbing content of all A/N) authoress' notes. I may or may not insert comments or explanations of certain things in my story.

Ok! SO srry i havent updated in i think its been like at least a year or so now. but now i'm back and i'm definately going to be writing a lot more often. once again, reviews -even if they're just complaining about me not updating- help to speed up the process and are welcome. if i think people actually want to read more i'll write faster. if i think my effort is going to waste then i wont. simple as that. that being said and done hope you enjoy.

**Child of the Night**

**Chapter 3- dandelions are your _friends_...**

**WITH KAYAM**

'_I really need to do that more often_,' thought Kayam happily. _'That really was relaxing._' She stretched out like a cat and yawned softly. Then she started to walk through the cool night air and the pale moonlight following like a constant shadow of light. She walked quickly to the same cliffs she had hurled herself off of earlier and started climbing. Two-thirds of the way up she finally reached her ledge and pulled herself onto it, then she turned around to stare at the forest below her. Everything was in a wash of blue and the crickets were chirping softly in the background. Kayam smiled, the night was so peaceful and gentle, she couldn't understand why so many harbored such fears of it. A sudden scream from the forest cut through Kayam's thoughts, she smiled wryly. _'Well, I suppose that **could **be one of the reasons...' _

**BACK AT KOEMMA'S OFFICE**

Koemma scratched the back of his head nervously. "We don't know if the demoness is hostile or not yet, but she appeared suddenly in our files about one week ago. It was as if she hadn't exist until several days ago, but from what we've seen on the surveillance tapes she looks like she's nearing her prime. All I need you four to do is watch her and gather information for two weeks, then report back to me. The four of you will work in shifts so that you'll be less likely to be spotted. But if she does see you and you end up engaging in a fight, knock her out and bring her here for questioning. _Try _not to kill her." Koemma shot an extra _special_ glare in Hiei's general direction, which he of course ignored. Kuwabara snickered then suddenly remembered he hadn't eaten breakfast and groaned. Yusuke reached over and punched him in the ribs.

"So, does this demoness have a name or do we have to just refer to her as _that girl_? asked Yusuke sarcastically. "Because if we do, it will be the final piece of evidence of how bad Spirit World intelligence really is." Koemma rolled his eyes and if possible his took on an even more peeved expression.

"Yes fool, we do know her name and it's Kayam Nikko. According to my spies she has black hair with blue streaks in them, a slight build, and is usually dressed in black training outfits. She was seen in the company of a tall demon with spiky blonde streaked black hair a few times so we're assuming he is her traveling companion. If you are forced to take Kayam in for questioning and he's there with her, see if you can capture him as well. But if he proves too strong just take Kayam and run. Understand?" Muttered acknowledgements were heard. (A/N now that's what I call an enthusiastic bunch!)

"Hey toddler, can I go now? I'm hungry..." Kuwabara whined. Koemma glared but ignored the comment.

"Yes, Kuwabara, you may all go and the same to the rest of you too- except Kurama." Koemma turned slightly before adding, "I just want to talk to you for a few minutes." Kurama raised an eyebrow but stayed silent. The rest of the guys walked out of the room while Kurama strode to a chair sat down to wait patiently. The door closed loudly as the locks slipped back in place. Koemma turned around quickly and looked Kurama straight in the eye.

"Kurama, _listen _to me. You lay one hand on her and I will make sure you are kept in a maximum security cell until I'm dead, and my successor's successor has five heirs!" The boy prince looked ridiculous threatening the gentle red-head, but Kurama snarled as his eyes flashed gold and narrowed in an uncharacteristic show of anger.

"I understand, _sire,_" he spat. "But I have my family as well as my own honor to uphold and one blue-blooded brat is NOT going to stop me!" And with that he shoved his chair back and stormed out of the room in a fury. Koemma continued to yell and plead after him but Kurama was already gone. Clenching his fists as he walked down the hallway Kurama fumed silently. _Un**reasonable** bastard! As if he could keep me locked up. I dare him to TRY; he'll never be able look at another **dandelion** without wetting his pants._ He grinned arrogantly for a moment, then frowned. _I'm such an idiot to have lost control. I acted like a hot-headed fledgling and now Koemma's spies will probably be watching me. **Damn** her, she's the only one who can make me forget myself and act like a blundering fool. _

**WITH KAYAM**

The beautiful royal blue of the sky was fading quickly when Kayam finally sat up and stretched lazily in a fashion not at all unlike cat. She squinted towards the east for a moment before shaking herself loose and easing into a gentle run. _'I really need to get going... eh. I've got maybe three hours to get back but it'll take me a lot more time to travel by foot.' _Remembering this her gentle run began to gather speed rather quickly. Kayam had every reason to want to get back toIzanami before dawn; although Lei for the most part just gave her a tongue-lashing and the occasional 200 laps, he was rather paranoid about her staying out in the open and had been known to release pent-up worry in the form of jets of fire. Which was probably why when two shuriken suddenly imbedded themselves into a tree trunk to the right of her she lifted her eyes fora moment and made a prayer to the gods.

There was almost no time to prepare or brace against the attack before she was in the middle of the fray. Some of the blows Kayam blocked automatically and with ease, others were two or even three-fold attacks which inflicted painful injuries that seemed to make her sluggish and tired. Her attackers were two males and one female but Kayam was sure there were more in the trees around them. For the most part they stayed out of the fight except for the occasional daggers that they let fly loose. Kayam mentally cursed,_'Shit. Those bastards are just sitting there **watching **all this.'_

Feeling the prick of something entering her neck, Kayam yanked out the porcupine quill out of her neck then swallowed hard as a wave of nausea hit and the taste of bile filled her mouth. She knew the effects of poison, but that didn't make the situation any easier. Her best bet would probably be to take flight and lose them before heading back to Izanami and Lei. The two of them could no doubt counteract the poison but first she had to get there without being followed. Or killed. As she blocked a slash to her face with her metal arm bands she head-butted the male fighter before throwing him against his comrades. As the fighters reorganized Kayam tried to quickly take inventory. She managed to find three bombs, four throwing daggers, two tantos, and give or take a dozen shuriken in various pockets. Now that she knew what she was working with, Kayam's mind created a rough plan and then threw herself to the task of carrying it out. One nagging thought tugged at the back of her mind though; the hasty inventory she had taken hadnt allowed her to be sure of what kind of bombs she had in her possesion. And at the moment grabbing just _any _bomb could destroy her chance at escape.

Trying her best to push all that to the back of her mind, Kayam switched from her defensive mode and into offense. (A/N _**coughs** _well actually her 'defense mode' was probably more like a just-trying-to-stay-alive-for-as-long-as-possible mode... anyways on with the story) This time when one of the female fighters came at her from behind she didnt waste time trying to dodge or block, instead she ignored the small blade that buried itself beneath her shoulder and gave a powerful spinning kick at connected with the woman's jaw. There was scream and a sudden fountain of blood. The kick to the woman's jaw had caused her to bite off part of her own tongue. Kayam hardened herself against the grisely scene as she took threw all three bombs at the ground around her and sent six of her remaining shuriken at her three main attackers. Only one of the shuriken actually hit a target but the temporary distraction was enough to allow Kayam to concentrate on pouring almost all her remaining energy on forming her wings. As soon as she felt their familiar weight on her back and shoulders she spred them fully open and threw herself into the air.

**SHUICHI MINAMINO'S HOME**

"...so you _see _Yusuke, if skew lines are not on the same plane, then they dont have to be parallel to never touch. Do you understand?" Yusuke looked in his girlfriend's general direction forone uninterested moment then popped his gum. Keiko's already strained patience with the spirit detective in that moment simply snapped. She picked up his Basic Geometry book in her hand, got up and went around the kitchen table where she, Kurama, Kwuabara, and Yusuke were seated.Then she walked up behind Yusuke and in one swift blow smashed the book into the back of his head.

"WHAT THE FU-!" the indignant teen shot up in his seat only to be punched in the face by a red-facecd Kwuabara.

"Hey! You watch your language when there are girls around!"

"Don't tell me what to do ya wuss!" spat Yusuke.

"Just watch that crap mouth of your's!"

"Will the two morons in aisle three please SHUT THE HELL UP!" screamed Keiko. Hiei walked in the room at that moment and shot a glare at the two offending teens before turning to Kurama.

"Kurama, Koemma wants us now." Kurama stared ahead without looking at Hiei for a moment then said simply.

"Then please inform him that I am not feeling well." Hiei raised his eyebrows.

"You look fine to me, Kurama," said Yusuke still rubbing his face. "What's wrong with ya?" Kurama smiled gently.

"I'm alright, just tired. I think I'll be fine if I lie down for a while and rest," Kurama reassured. Keiko however still looked worried.

"Hey, if you're really not feeling okay I'm sure Yukina will be happy to come and have a look at you..."

"It's quite alright," Kurama broke in. "I think I just need to get more sleep. No need to bother Yukina."

Hiei rolled his eyes as he watched his friend grow uncomfortable before saying harshly, "You're lying." Kurama looked up sharply and tightened his jaw but kept his voice calm.

"Why should I lie?" Hiei ignored his denial and continued.

"Tell me, since when has the famous 'King of Theives' avoided confrontation with a mere _girl_? Are you so ashamed that you would allow yourself to act like a spineless fool? Or are you afraid that she'll be nothing like the demoness that you've imagined her as all these years? Now that I think of it, it may just be both," Hiei spat the last statement like an accusation and walked towards the door.


	4. take a simple breath

disclaimer:I really dont feel like repeating myself but here it goes anyway. I don't own YYH or anything that has to do with YYH except this story and my characters. Please don't let me find you plagiarizing because first off I dont see why you'd WANT to claim my stuff as your own and secondly because that makes me angry. And bad things happen when I get angry. How bad, you ask? Like Pompeii bad. I can't hack quite as efficiently as I'd like yet, but trust me I'll get there...

"random crap" dialog (for you linguistically challenged, stuff in double quotes means people are talking out loud)

'_more weird randomness_' thoughts of the character. Could also be the telepathic conversation of two (duh) telepaths

(the most disturbing content of all A/N) authoress' notes. I may or may not insert comments or explanations of certain things in my story.

people... I asked for reviews and all I got was ONE. And I know more people are reading than that. But I'll continue to write anyway because there was one person at least who took the time to review and show that there are people reading. I'll shut up in a second and get on with the story but really now, c'mon people.

**Child of the Night**

**Chapter 4- Take a Simple Breath**

**WITH KAYAM **

Immediately several crescent shaped shuriken shot through the smoke Kayam was flying away from. To her relief however, they fell short and simply fell back towards the ground. At first despite various smaller injuries and the poisoning Kayam made relatively decent time, but about five miles away from Izanami the poison that her body had somehow been able to ignore for so long began to take effect. Her now charcoal grey wings felt less solid and she had to beat them harder and more often to stay air-borne. She felt her own consciousness slip back and forth as she grasped for control even as she knew that in the end she would lose. There was no other option. She had to find a place to land and rest. If she kept this up her energy would get sapped and she would ultimately end up losing consciousness in mid-flight and probably snap her neck from the fall. Now her breath was coming hard and after each one she took her vision would blur and her stomach would twist. Without noticing it, she stopped beating her wings and started gliding along more and more slowly. The last thing she would remember were green leaves and flying past and snapping branches that whipped and scratched her all over.

**AT KOEMMA'S OFFICE**

STAMP -pause- STAMP -pause- STAMP -pause- STAMPSTAMPSTAMPSTAMPSTAMPSTAMPSTAMPSTAMPSTAMPSTAMP... STAMP.

"Baka, if you continue to create that irritating noise your ogre will have to find a new employer," said Hiei with a glare.

The poor harassed boy-king sighed wearily as he rubbed his throbbing temples in vain.

"He's going to go after her alone isn't he?" asked Koemma.

Hiei shrugged," I am not the fox's keeper."

Koemma's eye twitched. "Hiei, I need to know-" he started.

"Ask him yourself if you want to know so badly, I will have nothing to do with your meddling," Hiei stated.

"Damn it Hiei! If I don't 'meddle' and Kurama ends up killing Kayam I'll be dealing with a dead body with some scary-ass connections here." (A/N haha! I made Koemma say 'scary-ass'! lmao)

"Hn. Coward."

"How dare you speak to the ruler of the Spirit World like that!"

"Because you can't do shit about it. And you're not the ruler of the Spirit World, your father is."

**WITH KURAMA**

Long slim fingers danced lightly across the sheet of paper as the rough outline of a figure appeared. Kurama's experienced hands sketched thoughtfully as the picture became that of a young man sitting with his knees drawn up against his chest, and eyes that seemed perpetually weary. His hair was bound loosely at the nape of his neck, and his high collared trench coat seemed unable to keep out the snow that Kurama was carefully adding.

Glancing up at the clock on his wall, Kurama flipped to the back of the sketchbook and carefully ripped out a blank page. He scrawled a reassuring note to his mother, then in one fluid motion he closed the sketchbook as he stood up and slipped the pencil into his front pocket. As he walked downstairs he passed a section of wall with a deep dent in it and smiled. Yusuke had made that dent with his head months ago when he tripped over the rug in the hallway.

-FLASHBACK-

OW! HOLY- (A/N insert some choice colorful words here... this will keep my rating down and at the same time your filthy minds will probably come up with dirtier words than I ever could.)

**WITH KAYAM**

It was dark and cold when Kayam finally awoke with every muscle in her body stiff. After shaking her head in an attempt to clear her swimming vision, she quickly looked around her, then thanked every god, goddess, and deity she could think of for her good luck. She was hanging off of a thick tree branch on her mid-section, with one arm dangling over the side and the other crumpled underneath her. She tried to pull herself up into a sitting position on the branch but stopped dead as she stifled a scream a pain. The arm she had landed on was definitely broken, and from the swelling it looked like it was broken in more than one place. She was having trouble breathing but she was grateful that none of her broken ribs had punctured a lung. Besides that she had random scratches and cuts on her exposed arms, and of course various bruises all over her body in general. The cuts didn't hurt that much expect for one along her lower left arm which was still oozing blood. It was a jagged cut that looked like she had been snagged by a fish hook then dragged down a road. All together the damage was rather minimal considering that she could have died. Or woken up with her body smashed into a mass of bloody bone fragments and her face torn off. (A/N :wince:)

Kayam held her breath and slowly shifted her good arm underneath her torso. She tensed then in one swift motion tried to bring her legs up beneath her in a crouching position. But when she automatically extended her broken arm for balance a jolt of pain shot up her arm and she overshot her target, plummeting towards the rather hard looking ground. Luckily there was nothing seriously wrong with her legs that a little rest and hot water wouldn't cure, so she was able to land on her feet in a crouching position. Without her left arm to help balance her though (she was DEFINATELY not moving that arm anytime soon), she fell to her side immediately after landing the fall with her arm cradled to her chest.

Kayam exhaled hard as she crossed her legs underneath her and relaxed as best possible. She concentrated on gathering her mind, calming her hammering heart, and getting her energies flowing through her body properly as she sunk into restive sleep-trance. An hour later Kayam's eyes opened with a snap after a large seed bounced off the top of her head. She scowled as she glanced upwards towards the branches. '_Well that was awkward...'_

**WITH KURAMA**

His long strides were measured carefully measured with a controlled impatience that smothered and flared. He didn't think about a set destination, didn't even try to settle on one, and yet there never once anything hesitant about any of his movements.

-FLASHBACK-

A small red headed boy twirled a small stick in his fingers as he looked up with eyes full of the innocent curiosity of untainted youth. The woman who walked beside him was not the stunning beauty typical of the Bai family, but had a deceptively plain, yet strangely alluring appearance that drew people in without notice or even warning. For the past few weeks she had been carefully helping the boy mold his spirit energy as well as self-control; both would be valuable weapons against any opponent. Now she struggled as she always did, to try to put into words something that was as difficult to describe as being completely in tune with the pulse of music. The spurts of ideas and half-formed thoughts were elusive as they teased her mind about something only the soul understood.

-END FLASHBACK-

_'Breathing. Not with the body, but with all the energy that makes up a being, to be able to travel to anywhere as if by will alone,'_ a melodic voice from his past reminded him gently. Kurama laughed softly. The 'as if' part was a rather important one.

As he kept walking he began to still his spirit carefully. This would be the easiest part, people ignore their spirits so often they will often times even confuse it with their soul. He forced himself to do it slowly and to not rush or disregard anything.

**BACK AT KOEMMA'S OFFICE**

:...twitch...:

"Hiei-"

"No."

"But I'm beg-"

"No."

"But it's not that-"

"No."

:...pause...:

:...twitch...:

"Couldn't you-"

"No."

"...at least-"

"No."

"Why n-"

"No."

"What if-"

"No."

"I'll give you-"

"I will not accept your request or your pathetic attempts at a bribe."

Koemma's left eye started to ticked, but was interrupted by a loud crash overhead which was then followed by a familiar...

"OW! What the fu-!"

Another familiar sound of a fist connecting with a face... (A/N there are a lot of sounds familiar to these people eh?)

"DAMN IT, STOP DOING THAT!" Yusuke's indignant voice exploded clearly through the halls.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CURSE IN FRONT OF GIRLS!" Kuwabara's equally irked voice roared right back.

"I'LL DO WHAT I DAMN WELL PLEASE YOU UGLY PIECE OF-"

**BACK WITH KURAMA…**

Will is just the conscious decision to try. This technique, like all others, had to have the skills and power to back it. Sit in a car with the key in your hand, everything is there but will to start the ignition, and so you will get nowhere. Start the ignition will your will but ignore the fact that there is no gas in the tank and the engine is shot, and you still won't get anywhere.

The 'god-breath' require precise control of vast amounts of energy to perform. It was not something that could be practiced until the student succeeded; it was like trying to perform open-heart surgery with a two-ton block of marble weighing down the scalpel.

To prepare for an attempt at the god-breath, one first worked on being able to create and maintain ungodly amounts of spirit energy. Once maximum power is achieved, intuitive knowledge and controlling the energy are the keys to coming out of a 'breathing' alive.

-FLASHBACK-

_'...and then what Yuna?'_ The woman smiled at the child as she spread her arms wide as if reminiscent of wings.

_'Then, you just relax. Relax everything that is **you**. Energy, mind, body, soul, spirit- calm all of it, until they are no longer independent of each other and your being is as uniform and smooth as a flat as an ocean of glass._

_You will, of course, have somewhere it wants you to go, but you must ignore this urge to force the 'breath' completely. Otherwise you might end up where you **think** you should be, but not where you truly want to be. There is another danger to letting your mind force the 'breath', if your mind should suddenly wander so become distracted you may accidentally end up inside the cell of that flower next to you, or in an uninhabitable dimension where you could die before being able to 'breathe' again.'_

_'But Yuna, how does it **work**? How can you just will yourself to be somewhere? And how can you do it if you don't even know exactly where you want to go?' _The intense stare of the child on his elder sister was un-nerving (A/N elder sister in the martial arts, not in blood).

'_We're not quite sure, Shao-di, no one really knows.' _A disregarding shrug accompanied the answer. _'Why should matter? We know what we are to do when the god breath is performed, but as difficult as it is to perform it successfully, there is not much time or thought to be spared while doing it, as to what is actually happening.'_

'_Alright, then what do you do to perform the god breath?'_ Yuna looked down as if torn for a moment, then walked a few steps away.

'_Come on Shao-di, that's enough for one day. I want you to show me how far you are on your forms.' _

-END FLASHBACK-

* * *

Well, what do you think? Oh yes, some things to explain…..

1) In Chinese martial arts your teacher is know as your 'father' or 'mother', if your teacher taught another student who is now helping you, they would be considered your 'elder brother/sister'. You figure out the rest.

2) Shao-di is Chinese for 'little brother'. If anyone knows the actual spelling, tell me. Because that was the best I could come up with...

3) There will be some mixed cultural references in this story…. I realize that Yu Yu Hakusho is Japanese, so don't flame me about it. I AM aware of this fact…. I know that Yuna is a Korean name, and it has not escaped my attention (seeing as how I wrote it) that she does Chinese martial arts. All will be explained later. I think.


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